Ore-washer.



GOW.

` ORE WASHER.

ARPLIOATION PIL'BD M'AvYj, 19u.

Patented Jly 18,1911.

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narran STATES Parana* ernten ALEXANDER M. GOW, 0F DULUCH, MINNESGTALGREVSHER.

Specification of Letters Patent. y Patented July E18, i531 L Applicationfiled Itay 5, 1911. v

Serial Nt). 625,237. A

To all whom it may concern:

lie it known that l, ALEXANDER M. (,ow, a

citizen ot' the United States, residingf at l)uluth, in the county otSt. Louis and State ot' ltlinnesota7 hare invented certain new andnset'ul Improvements in Ure-"Washers, of whieh the llollowiner .is aSpecification.

My invention relates to ore washers; and hasl particular." reference toan ore washer having,r transverse 'instead of longitudinally mountedagitators.

Une o't the objects ot' my invention is to provide an ore washer of theclaas described which shall be adapted for such adjustment that the orepassed therethrough may be emieentrated or rel iafed from the silicawith tess lossI than has heretofore been possible with etnieentrators ofthe common type.

ln my investigation of certain iron ores l have t'ound that a crude orecontaining 'from twenty to forty per cent. silica can loe 'ashed andconcentrated to a product containingr trom but eight to twelve per cent.silica by simple agitation with water and the rejection .in the tailingsof no particlesl ol material eoarser than eighty mesh. To accomplishthis result it its necessary that thc ore be thoroughly and repeatedlystirred in contact. with a large quantity of water and that the point otdischarge oft-he tailv inge` with ret'erenee to the body of ore be suchthatI all coarse particles, in fact everything; but the tine slimes,shall be prevented `trom tlowine` away trom the machine. The ores inquestion, currently known as f wash ores, vary between very wide limitsin their iron and silica content' as wellA as their degree ot lineness,and a machine .to handle them should be capable of the followingAadjustments, in order to meet the conditions required to successfullywash and concentrate these ditte-rent. grades: (a) Quantity ot' water.(b) llacesfot' application of the water. (e) lDepth ot` water. (d)lleightof orertlow otl tailingsV (e) Angle of slopeeof the containingtank. (f)y Speed of the stirring' paddles.4 (y) Height off discharge ofwashed ore. (jt) Velocity of final current earryilner away the tailings..lt is the practice at presentI to wash these ores in what is known aslog washers but owingto the large, amount ot coarse ore carried away inthe tailings it is neces-nary to provide settling tanks` andsupplementary log washers. locally known as "tru-bos to ret-.over thiscoarse .desired amount ot' agitation and washing.

ore. The purpose of my invention is to provide a washer which shalldispense with settling'tanks and turbos while at the Same time the orcis given a very thorough and complete washing with the production ot' ahigh grade product and minimum tailing losses.

AJl/vhile I have incorporated in my inven tion the fundamental principleolf the loor washer, namely that of revolving, sha carryiiig" paddles tostir the ore and project it toward the point of discharge, while thewater flows in the opposite direct ionn lietertheless, l have departedradically from the mechanical construction of existing log' Washers inthat instead of having the shafts y carrying the paddles parallel to thevtieve of the ore l place them transverse to the liow and provide a.plurality et short shafts thus avoiding the serious troubles ot thepresent form ot log washers due to long shafts and cnil thrust onhearings, @wing to mechanical ditlicnlties log washers as at presentin`v structed are of limited length with connequent limited amount ofagitation and waait ing of the ore while with my construction l amenabled to build a practical 'machine et any desired length and give tothe ore My invention will be .more readily naderu stood by reference tothe accompanyinmiA drawings whereinn y Figure l is a plan View ol amachine-such as is contemplated by me, land Fig. 2 section taken on line2, 2 o't'illig. l. y

Helerriiiev now more tntrticularly to 'the drawings it will be seen thatli provide a tank lt ot' varying; depth` this tank boing mounted uponAsuitable aupporting member-a auch as the beamsl ll. restii'ig;r attheir lower ends on a support .l2 and at, their upper ends havingadjusting means Such as the jack-screw IC. l`he tank is provided atitelower end with a water diseharge spout lt and at its upper end with anore discharge spout- '.lhe point of discharge through both of thesespouts may be regulated by eti means ot a, plurality of planks itl, t7earried in guides or grooves in the Sides of tite tank l0. A. hopper 18is provided, this liopper beingn arranged for sliding; movement en thetop of the tank in 4order that the. 'ore to be'treated may loe plaeed in`the tank vat any desired point. Also within the tank are prin aided aplurality of guider,l it within whichis inounteda balile or movable Wall20. By adjustment of this baille plate 20, l' provide for a large orsmall compartment at the outlet or water discharge end, for a purpose tobe latcr described.

Mounted within the tank l in bearings 2l, is a plurality of transverseshafts carrying paddles or agitators 22. verse shafts are preferablycomposed of four anule-irons Q3, placed back to back, the paddie beingriveted therebetween. Each of these shafts is provided with a beveledpinion 24 and meshing therewith is a beveled y gear 25 rigidly mountedon shaft 26 conne'cted to a suitable source of power.

Preferably the paddles in the compartment formed by the adjustablebattle are not angularly disposed, but as shown are parallel to theshaft. In thisway I secure a more positive agitation at the point Whereit is needed. The purpose of placing the other paddles at an angleto theshafts is to secure the proper agitation of the ore body in the tank andreduce the power re .quired to forceeach paddle into they layer of orelying on the bottom thereof. The path of each machine is a zig-zag .oneproceeding first toward one side and then toward the other but at thesame time continually-progressing toward the head or discharge end..

Underneath the tank I provide water supply means such as the 4pipe 27having a plurality of connections entering' the lower wallof the tank.These connections are each provided with controlling means such asvalves 28. At the lower` end I provide also an additional water supplyconnection 29 having a controlling valve 30. This valve may be normallyclosed but in certain instances it will be found desirable to increasethe rate of water discharge over the tail gate and this valve .will benection. with the adjustable Wall or baille, will give what is in effecta hydraulic olassitier with anagitator at the bottom and by adjustmentof the -tivomeans'the ore may be separated to any desired degree; infact, if desired, nothing but the very finest particles may be allowedto pass over the tail gate. i J It will be understood that the height ofthe discharge spout 14 is always less than that of the ore spout 15 andfor this reason they are both made adjustable. The tank is madeadjust-able in order to adapt-it to all grades of ore. F or instance, avery fine or light ore will necessitate a slower flow o f water and thetank in a less inclined position than is required for a more coarse ore.The operation is as follows: Assuming the agitators in' operation andasupply of Water entering the 'tank through themater supply pipes, aquantity tank through the hopper. The solid matter These transparticleof ore through the,

opened. This means, in con' at the overflow end, and

of ore is dumped into the essere l. An orc washer comprising, incombination, a container havingoutlet spout-s for thc ore and forthe'liquid andlightcr materia-l and an adjustable tail gate, a pluralityof agitators with-in said container adapted to agitato the material andpropel the heavier `material toward the ore spout, a baliicadju'stablymounted within and transversely ofsaid container, and anv independentfluid supply connection between'the baille and the outlety for lightermaterial whereby the flow of liquid from the tail gate may be augmentedlif desired, substantially as described.

2. In combination, a container having a discharge for ore. at one endand an overiow discharge for water and lighter material at the otherend, the former being cle- 'vated above the latter, alongitudinalseriesof transversely mounted rotatable agitators adapted to propel the oretoward its discharge, the series of agitators being located asubstantial distance below the Water level at the overflow end, andprogressively rising to and above said level toward the discharge forheavier material, substantially as described.

3.111 combination, a container having a discharge for ore at one end andan oven flow discharge for water and lighterl 1naterial at the otherend, the former being ele` 'vated above the latter, a longitudinalseries of transversely mounted rotatable agitators adapted to repel theore toward its discharge, paddles upon thengitators, the paddles orsuccessive agitators beine 'revcrsely disposed, the series of agitatorsbeing locateda substantial distance below the water level progressivelyrising to and above said level toward the discharge for heaviermaterial, substantially as dcscribed.

' 4. In combination, a container having a discharge for ore at one endand an overflow discharge for water and lighter material at the otherend, the former being elevated above the latter, a longitudinal seriesof transversely mounted rotatable agitators adapted' to propel the oretoward-its discharge, the series of agitators being located asubstantial distance below the water level at the overiiow end, andprogressively rising to and above said level toward the discharge forheavier material, one or more of the lowermost of the series ofpaddlesbeing proeiaegeve vided with agitating paddles and the otherswith agitatine' and propelling paddles, substantially as described.

a. An ore washer comprising, in combination, a container having outletspouts for the ore and for the Iliquid and lighter material and anadjustable tail gate, apl11- rality ot agitators within said containeradapted to agitabe the material and propel the heavier material towardthe ore spout, a. battle adjnstably mounted within and transversely ofsaid container, an independm enttluid supply connection between thebaille 'and the outlet tor lighter material, whereby the flow ot' liquidfrom the tail gate. may be l augmented it desired, and a plurality ot'additional tluid supply connections disposed thi-onghout,` the length oftlre container, substantially as described.

G.- ln combination, a container having a discharge for ore at one endand an over flow yfor water and lightergmaterial at the other'end, theoriner being located above the latter, means whereby the height of bothysaidvdischarge openings may be regulated, a

longitudinal series of transversely `xnonllted rotatable agitatorsadapted to propel the ore toward its discharge, the series of agi-vtators being located. asubstantial dlstance' below thewater level `at,the overflow end 30 and rising to and above said level toward thedischarge for the heavier material, sub- `stantially as described.

7. In combination, a container having a discharge for ore'at one end andan overlow discharge tor water and' lighter material at the other end,the former being elevated above the latter, a longitudinal series otvtransversely mountedrotatable agitators adapted to propel the ore towardits discharge, the series ot agitators being loe-ated a substantialdistance below the water level at the overflow end, and progressivelyrising to and above said level toward the discharge for heaviermaterial, and means for 4 adjusting the angle of inclination-of saidcontainer in order to properly separate the different grades of ore,substantially as described.

Al'JEXANDER M. GOW.'

1Witnesses y i EDWARD H. WINDOM, J'.. A Hnoroa

